In all honesty, Pokémon Detective Pikachu is exactly what you’d expect from a modern live-action Pokémon film, and will certainly divide audiences – it isn’t going to win any new admirers to the franchise (except for maybe very young audiences, who may have this film serve as their introduction to the iconic Japanese creation) and…
I Am Easy To Find (2019)
Somewhere towards the end of I Am Easy To Find, we are presented with a stark image, accompanied by the following words: “She wondered how she became this person, not others” It is a deeply complex question, and one that isn’t offered any answer, or at least not one that can be readily indicated. There…
Her Smell (2019)
Alex Ross Perry makes films that linger with you long after they’ve ended. Whether it be his quasi-Pynchon adaptation Impolex, the gloriously minimalistic The Color Wheel, the gorgeous Upper West Side epic Golden Exits the hilarious Listen Up Phillip or the Cassavetes-inspired psychological thriller Queen of Earth, he has always been a filmmaker capable of…
Wine Country (2019)
Any wine country is commonly known as a place of a few defining features, regardless of where you are in the world – beautiful scenery, serene surroundings and a lot of drunken people often causing a ruckus. This was the primary leaping point for Wine Country, the debut feature film by comedic iconoclast Amy Poehler….
Killer of Sheep (1978)
Charles Burnett, for lack of a better word, changed cinema. It is rare that a cinematic movement can be traced back to a single source, but it is evident that despite being relatively unknown outside of cinephile circles, Burnett revolutionized cinema in his own way by making Killer of Sheep. Along with John Cassavetes, who…
American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince (1978)
Towards the beginning of American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince, before the arrival of the eponymous subject, a young Martin Scorsese looks at his cameraman and asks how much film they have left. The answer is roughly two minutes, and Scorsese asks “can we fit a Steven Prince story into two minutes?” and he…
Spirits of the Dead (1968)
The anthology format is a genre of filmmaking that has seemingly gone out of fashion, with the exception of the occasional attempt to revisit the form, albeit from a more self-aware perspective. Yet, it is a remarkably effective means to make a film – shorter stories sewn together by some narrative or thematic thread. The…
Too Late for Tears (1949)
There are some elements that are so omnipresent in film noir, it has come to almost stereotypically define the genre – fog-laden streets populated by unlikable ruffians, smoky modernist apartments and offices that harbour malicious intentions, deceptive and conflicted men that are compelled to cross the moral boundaries to achieve certain goals, the complex femme…
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Something I’ve learned through my years of devouring movies is that when it comes to bigger blockbusters, always have your expectations set somewhat low. This has never been truer than with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a franchise that I have had quite the tumultuous relationship with over the years. There have been good times and…
Ruben Brandt, Collector (2019)
Absolutely everything about Ruben Brandt, Collector (Hungarian: Ruben Brandt, a gyűjtő) radiates pure artistry. It is set in the world of art collecting, is heavily inspired by the fine arts in how it was animated and stands as a work of art all on its own. A nightmarish and utterly brilliant blend of art and…
The Postmodern Pelican 